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Simple present
- Beth runs three miles
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Both baseball teams are on television
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Present progressive
- (describes something that's in progress right now)
- The kids on the playground are laughing loudly
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Present perfect
- (describes an action that started at an indefinite time in the past and either continues into the present or has just been completed)
- Astrid has read a book a week
- I have never been to Spain
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Simple past
- (indicates a completed action or condition)
- I wrote my final paper
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Past progressive
- (to describe an action that was ongoing in the past)
- We were sleeping when the fire alarm went off
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Past perfect
- (when you want to make it clear that one action in the past happened before another. This tense requires the helping verb had; past perfect can never stand alone as the only verb in the a sentence)
- Before she began college last fall, she had never been more than twenty
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Simple future
- (describes an action that will take place in the future. This tense requires the helper verb will)
- I will clean my room tomorrow
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Future progressive
- (describes an ongoing action that takes place in the future)
- I will be cleaning my room when you arrive
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Future perfect
- (indicates an action that will be completed by a specified time in the future)
- We will not have finished dinner by the time you arrive
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